The futures rebounded and traded higher on Wednesday, as we began the final trading month of 2021 following another risk-off day that was dominated once again by concerns about the new Omicron variant. In large part, that was down to the comments from the Moderna CEO that he expects current vaccines to be materially less effective against this variant. This comes despite the fact that the mutation is said to be far less transmissible than the Delta variant and the symptoms appear to be milder. All the major indexes and the transports closed lower, while the Treasury market was bought across the curve by worried investors looking for safety.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on the potential for rising interest rates, quantitative easing tapering, big increases in energy costs and other inflation issues, and the ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries. Toss in the very pressing debt ceiling issue and the ongoing China concerns, and there is still plenty of potential for volatility into the end of the year.

24/7 St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS): Citigroup started coverage on the stock with a Neutral rating and a $22 price target. The consensus target is $28.50, and shares were closed on Tuesday at $21.92.

Ayala Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: AYLA): Jefferies raised its Hold rating to Buy and changed the $12 target price to $17. The consensus target is $22.33. Shares closed almost 5% on Tuesday and were up an additional 5% in Wednesday’s premarket.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): HSBC started coverage with a Reduce rating and a $62 price target. The consensus target for the plant-based food company is $74.71. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $70.26, which was down close to 6% for the day.